Prodigy
by hullabuloo NHT
Summary: AU What if the Third had died in the Fourth's place? What if Naruto's parentage had been known? And what if the Kyuubi was never kept a secret from Naruto? This story will show you the answers. Itanaru.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this fic is purely non-profitable.

Prologue

The nine-tailed fox was frightening in its glory. With its large red tails swishing around behind it, easily toppling buildings and uprooting trees, the fox made a menacing figure indeed. Konoha ninjas could be seen leaping and running around the gigantic fox, hands flashing into seals and launching high-powered jutsus at the demon. A green clad man with thick bushy eyebrows could be seen wrestling with one of the nine foxtails. It was a commendable effort, but nevertheless, it did not affect the demon king. When the fox felt some resistance in moving one of his tails, he casually sent another tail to help his first tail rid itself of the annoyance. With a single flick, Maito Gai was sent flying off into a canopy of trees. Another notable ninja was a small teenager, who, despite his age, sported gray hair that stood up on his head. He quickly flashed through a few seals before the entire clearing was filled with a loud chirping sound. A ball of light had coalesced in his hand as he charged at the great fox with a yell. Shoving the ball of light as deeply into the fox's hind leg as he could, Kakashi was rewarded for his efforts when a tail curled itself around him and lifted him off the ground. As he looked down, he saw the fox's leg quickly regenerating itself from the wound caused by Kakashi's Raikiri. The fox brought Kakashi in front of its face and squinted at the minute creature that had managed to wound it. The grey haired teenager was frozen in fright as he stared into the demonic red eyes and mentally prepared himself for a painful death. The fox opened his mouth and was about to eat the one-eyed ninja when a yellow flash appeared and robbed him of his meal.

Immediately, shouts of "Yondaime-sama!" and "He's here! We're saved!" were heard across the clearing. Indeed, the Yondaime had arrived. Clad in his Hokage robes and his trademark coat embroidered with flames, the Yondaime stared down the fox from atop the head of his boss summon, Gamabunta. The giant toad stared grimly at his opponent. "This is some trouble you're in, Minato. Why couldn't you have summoned me for sake or something? No, it's always some dangerous and impossible task you ask of me whenever I'm summoned." The toad grumbled, though there was no hint of anger in his tone. After all, Namikaze Minato was a favorite among the toads with his kind nature and strong character. Gamabunta was also carrying three other people atop his head. One was the recently saved Hatake Kakashi, who was still shuddering and desperately trying to get back his breath. The second was the famed "Professor", the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. He was flashing through a long series of seals as he prepared to unleash a horrible jutsu on the Kyuubi. The last person was cradled in the Fourth's arms, a small baby that was gurgling happily despite the situation. If one looked closely, one could see strange symbols that have been painted on the child's stomach. The most eye-catching of them was a large swirl right smack in the center of his tummy.

Suddenly, a loud boom resonated in the clearing as the Sandaime finally completed his set of seals. A large tear appeared in the air next to the fox as a grotesque looking figure emerged from it. The Shinigami had been summoned to seal the Kyuubi. Reaching one hand into the fox which, realizing its plight, tried desperately to run away, the Shinigami extracted the soul of the large demon. He then pushed the corrupted soul into the body of the baby carried by the Yondaime. After doing his work, the Shinigami turned to the Sandaime and collected his soul as payment. Sarutobi Hiruzen surrendered his soul willingly as he died with a smile on his face, glad to be able to give his life for the sake his beloved village.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this fic is purely non-profitable.

**Chapter 1**

Namikaze Naruto was not stupid by any measure. Nor was he ignorant. As such, it was only inevitable for the young three year old to notice that he was not a normal child. Firstly, unlike other children who played with their families and friends in parks and playgrounds, Naruto was often left alone. That does not mean that Naruto did not have a family, of course, for he was the only son of the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha. However, his father was often busy with his Hokage duties and rarely had time for his son. He was usually out of the Namikaze manor early in the morning, and came back late at night after Naruto went to bed. In fact, it was not rare for Naruto to only see his father once or twice in a whole week. Of course, Namikaze Minato was not irresponsible enough to leave the young child without guardians. An ANBU had been tasked with looking after the boy and ensuring that he was fed. More often than not, the ANBU sent to babysit Naruto was Hatake Kakashi, son of the White Fang, prized student of the Yondaime and infamous Copy-Cat ninja. And it was Kakashi who Naruto was intently staring at right now after the three-year-old had asked the ANBU Captain a question.

"Ne, Kaka-nii, why does everyone seem to hate me?"

And that led to the second reason why Namikaze Naruto was not normal, from whatever perspective. On the day he was born, Naruto had had a demon sealed into him. It was not just any demon either, no, it was the king of the Bijuu, the terrifying nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi.

"Maa, Naruto, not everyone hates you. I don't hate you at all. And neither does Gai or Crow or Badger or—" Kakashi would have started listing the codenames of all the ANBU who had looked after Naruto at one point or another had he not been interrupted by his sensei's son.

"Yeah yeah. I get it. Fine so not everyone, but most of the villagers. They're always glaring at me."

Kakashi sighed. It was not his place to explain Naruto's condition. "Why don't you ask your father? He can probably explain it much better than I can."

Naruto glared at Kakashi, "But he comes back so late! And then he goes straight to sleep. And he leaves before I wake up!"

"Well, gaki, I'm sure if you ask him he can find some time for you. It is not my place to answer your question." Kakashi said calmly, trying to placate the small blond.

"Fine. I get it. I'll ask him." Naruto huffed before he turned to his training dummy and proceeded to fill it with kunai.

Kakashi sighed internally as he watched the miniature Yondaime fling kunai at the training dummy. He and his sensei had drifted apart these three years. Minato had changed after the death of his beloved wife, Kushina, who died in childbirth the day of the Kyuubi attack. Overcome with grief at losing not only his wife but also his respected predecessor, the Fourth had thrown himself into his work and single-mindedly worked to repair the damage wrought by the demon fox and to bring Konoha back to her previous glory. Because of this, Minato had largely ignored and neglected his son, something which Kakashi disagreed with. However, despite how many times Kakashi tried to bring up the issue, his sensei would simply brush him off. Thus Kakashi could do nothing more but to accompany the kid and play with him as much as he could.

Namikaze Minato stood at the top of the Hokage tower as he surveyed the bustling village below him. He had already finished his paperwork for the day and his last meeting had concluded a few hours ago. However, he could not bring himself to go home. He missed Kushina terribly, and everything in the Namikaze manor did nothing but bring back memories of the times the two spent together. He could not even bear to look at his son, who was a living reminder of what he had lost. His guilt for ruining his son's life by turning him into a Jinchuriki (a demon vessel) also drove him to stay as far away from Naruto as possible. Nevertheless, Minato knew that it was wrong to neglect his son the way he did. Kakashi had brought up the matter many times, and even though Minato seemed nonchalant, he knew that he had to pull himself together and spend more time with Naruto. However, it would not be today. Soon, Minato promised himself, soon, he will put an end to his grieving. But for now, he could not bring himself to face the pain brought by Kushina's loss.

Minato returned to the manor around midnight. Naruto would usually be asleep by then. Thus, when Minato returned that night, he was surprised to see the lights in the living room still left on. Naruto was sitting in the sofa reading a scroll that was probably taken from the Namikaze library. The boy looked up when he heard his father enter the room. He swiftly placed the scroll aside as he stood and bowed to his father. "Otou-sama, okaeri." He greeted.

"What are you still doing awake, Naruto?" The Fourth asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"I was waiting for you, otou-sama. I asked Kaka-nii a question today and he directed me to you." Naruto replied.

"Kakashi can't answer you himself? That's strange."

"Ah. Kaka-nii felt that it wasn't his place to give me an answer. He said that you would be able to explain better than he can." Minato felt his chest constrict. Kakashi thought that it wasn't his place? That meant that it was probably something personal. Minato wasn't ready to talk about Kushina yet! As the elder Namikaze desperately thought of ways to misdirect his son's line of questioning, Naruto continued.

"I asked him why the villagers like to glare at me. Can you please give me an answer, otou-sama? Did I do something wrong?"

Minato was getting frantic. He wasn't ready to face Kushina's death himself, let alone explain it to Naruto. Why didn't Kakashi warn him beforehand? He would have stayed away from home and --- wait, what? He blinked dumbly at his son as his brain slowly processed Naruto's question. Was that it? Granted, he wasn't exactly happy to explain about the Kyuubi to Naruto, but it was by far preferable to explaining why Naruto didn't have a mother.

"We better sit down for this, son. It's quite a long story. I'm sure you know of the Kyuubi attack 3 years ago?" He asked as both Namikazes made themselves comfortable on the sofas, sitting so they were facing each other.

"Hai" Naruto replied as he recited what he'd learned from the history scrolls. "The Sandaime defeated the demon fox and the cost of his own life."

"That's correct," Minato nodded approvingly, "the Sandaime did defeat Kyuubi. However, the demon was immortal and could not be killed. So Sandaime had no choice but to seal the demon instead."

"So Kyuubi is still alive?" Naruto asked, the cogs slowly turning in his head as he formed a connection between the current conversation and his question. "The Kyuubi," he asked slowly, "is it sealed in a person?"

Minato's eyes widened, he didn't expect his son to catch on so quickly. "Yes, an inanimate object wouldn't be able to store the power and chakra that Kyuubi had. So Sandaime had to seal it in a newborn whose chakra coils have yet to mature and thus could adapt to the demon's presence."

Naruto was silent as he pondered over this information. So this was why he was hated. He was the Kyuubi, the demon fox. But something didn't sit right with that answer. If he was the Kyuubi, then why didn't he have any memories of his life as a fox? Why didn't he have the great power that the Kyuubi wielded? Unless… He wasn't the fox, but the jailor. He was like the bowl that contained ramen, and not the ramen itself. "I see. So I am a demon container huh? Arigatou for telling me the truth otou-sama." With that, Naruto stood and turned to retire to his room. His father calling his name caused him to stop. "You're a hero, Naruto. Not a demon. Never forget that."

Naruto turned and stared his father for awhile before a small smile bloomed on his lips. "Hai. Oyasumi, otou-sama." Naruto said softly before he left the room.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this fic is purely non-profitable.

**Chapter 2**

Naruto sighed as walked down the streets of Konoha. Really, the glares were starting to get to him. Can't they see that he was only the jailor? As he walked, he heard snippets of conversation between villagers and even some ninja taking the day off. One particular conversation captured his attention. He heard his father's name and thus, giving into his curiosity, he edged nearer to eavesdrop.

"—with that golden blond hair and those dreamy blue eyes, I can't understand why no one has snagged him yet?" A redhead chattered to her friends.

"I know! He's the number one sought-after bachelor in Konoha after all. It's too bad he hasn't shown interest in anyone after his wife passed away." A brunette chimed in.

"Oh well. There's always Hatake Kakashi, youngest ANBU captain ever. He has this mysterious air around him that just pulls me in." The third girl, who was also a brunette, said as she giggled.

The redhead seemed to ponder for awhile, "I don't know. I mean there was this huge scandal about his father a few years ago."

The first brunette rolled her eyes as she replied, "Who cares? That was so long ago. Besides, Kakashi's made such a huge name for himself that anyone who sees him will think only of his accomplishments as the Copy-cat ninja. No one will bother about his past."

The redhead nodded in agreement, "I guess you're right. And he is rather easy on the eyes. Then there's also Iruka, he's such a sweetie---"

Naruto tuned out the rest of the conversation as he walked away, lost in his thoughts. "Think only of his accomplishments, huh?" He muttered softly to himself. "If I become a good ninja and make a name for myself, will people forget about the Kyuubi too?" Naruto played with the idea inside his head for awhile before he came to a decision. He would train hard and become as strong as possible. He will make a name for himself. Only then will people start to see him rather than the Kyuubi.

Two years passed quickly without incident. Naruto had started training from dawn until dusk. He often left the house just after his father did and returned scant minutes before his father came home. He trained practically non-stop everyday, pushing his newly five-year-old body to its limits. Every morning, he would eat breakfast, pack a bento for lunch then head towards training ground 17. He had found several training scrolls in the Namikaze library which aided him in his training. Already, he was proficient in the three Academy jutsus along with a myriad of other basic jutsus he managed to find scrolls on. He also knew a few higher leveled jutsu that he weaseled out of his ANBU guardians. He had mastered the three chakra control exercises – tree climbing, water-walking and having a leaf hover over one's forehead. Those had been necessary in order for him to master the bunshin no jutsu, which used so little chakra that for someone with large chakra stores like Naruto, required lots of chakra control. However, his favorite jutsu by far was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, which Kakashi had taught him when he first faced the road block of mastering the bunshin no jutsu. To his delight, Naruto found that when one of his kage bunshin was dispelled, their memories were downloaded into his brain. This allowed him to speed up his learning as he could make use of his bunshin to help him master jutsu much faster. Late one night, when Naruto was training at his favorite training spot, he heard muffled cries coming from a clearing a few metres to his right. He immediately grabbed a kunai and went to investigate. His eyes widened as he say a Kumo ninja – judging by his headband, holding onto a struggling girl. He vaguely recognized her as Hyuuga Hinata, the heir to the Hyuuga clan. He immediately jumped into the unknown ninja's path as he narrowed his eyes at him. "Please release her, sir." Naruto requested respectfully. The Kumo nin stared at the small kid before laughing. "And what are you going to do if I refuse to do so, huh? You're just a little brat."

Naruto quickly formed a handseal, creating 5 kage bunshin and sent them to attack the foreign ninja. The Kumo nin's eyes widened at the use of not the normal bunshin but the much higher leveled kage bunshin. He placed the stuggling girl onto the ground and readied himself for battle. Despite the use of a B-class jutsu, the Kumo nin was confident in overpowering the small child. He quickly took down the clones with taijutsu before his hands flashed a set of handseals.

"Raiton: Raikyuu (Lightning ball)!" He shouted and immediately lightning was generated in the nin's hand and he threw out his arm, flinging the deadly electricity at Naruto. A loud explosion sounded as the tree Naruto was perched on was blown apart and the boy in question was now staring at his previous position with wide eyes. He had barely dodged that attack! He doubted even the Kyuubi could have healed him if he was blown into itty little pieces. Naruto quickly pushed down the fear bubbling in his stomach as he turned to face his enemy.

"Fuuton: Reppushou (Gale Wind Palm)!" Naruto exclaimed as he, too, flashed through seals. He then held his left hand in front of him, palm facing his opponent, whilst his right hand quickly grabbed a shuriken from his equipment pouch tied on his right thigh. Throwing the shuriken and activating his wind jutsu, Naruto watched as his projectile flew towards the Kumo nin at deadly speeds whilst his hands were already forming another set of seals. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu (Shadow Shuriken)!" Naruto yelled as completed his second set of seals. The Kumo nin, who had casually deflected the first shuriken, cursed and immediately jumped out of the way when he saw the second shuriken hidden in the first's shadow. However, in his haste to get away, he had released Hinata, who immediately scrambled towards Naruto and hid behind his back.

"Go and get help, Hinata-san. I can't hold him off for long." Naruto whispered softly to Hinata as he continued to glare at the enemy nin, who was currently swearing at himself for underestimating the brat and allowing his captive to get away. Hinata nodded tersely as she immediately turned and dashed away. At the sight of his previous captive running away, the Kumo nin quickly lunged forward, trying to grab the Hyuuga heir. However, Naruto appeared in his path and quickly engaged him in taijutsu. Being smaller and faster, Naruto was able to weave his way around the man's attacks, occasionally throwing in a punch or kick of his own. Unfortunately, this slight advantage did not last for long as Naruto's stamina started to wear out. He might have incredible endurance for someone his age, but fighting such a high speed battle after a day's worth of training was quickly exhausting the jinchurikii. In contrast, the Kumo nin did not seem to be slowing down at all. In fact, his blows were becoming faster and harder. It was obvious that the Kumo nin had been toying with the boy and he was now getting bored. Suddenly, the foreign ninja's attacks were alot faster and he was able to land quite a few hits on the blond boy.

Naruto slid a few feet away as a particularly powerful punch landed on his stomach. He bent over, desperately gasping for breath as the Kumo nin moved in for the kill. However, just as the kunai was about to descend on Naruto's neck, a second kunai appeared out of nowhere and the foreign ninja was forced to pull back his kunai to defend himself instead. Immediately, a tall man with long black hair appeared and swiftly dealt punishing blows to the Kumo nin. The tables were turned. However, just as Hiashi was about to deal the finishing blow with a Jyuuken strike to the heart, Naruto's voice stopped him.

"Don't kill him!" Naruto shouted as he quickly threw a pair of senbon at the enemy nin's neck, incapacitating him. "He's a Kumo nin and most likely here for the peace talks. If he dies, the Raikage will probably demand something back as payment." He explained as Hiashi turned towards him angry at the interruption. Hiashi pondered his words before nodding, allowing a pair of ANBU to tie up and secure the prisoner.

"Tell me, child, how did you manage to hold your own against a jounin level ninja?" Hiashi asked as he looked at the boy. To his surprise, Naruto scoffed. "Hold my own? I was getting thrashed! It was all I could do to desperately stall for time before reinforcements showed up. Besides he underestimated me, and paid for it."

"I see" Hiashi nodded, "and what were you doing here this late at night?"

"I was training in training ground 17 when I heard Hinata-san's muffled screams. I came to investigate and saw her struggling against the Kumo nin." Naruto then turned to the ANBU who had just finished bandaging his wounds. "Arigatou, Crow-san." He then stood and faced the Hyuuga clan head. "It was nice meeting you, but I should go home now. May you have a good night, Hyuuga-sama, Hinata-san." He said, bowing to Hiashi and nodding to Hinata. With that, he jumped onto the nearest roof and headed home.

Namikaze Minato rubbed his temples as he stared at his childhood friend and teammate, Hyuuga Hiashi. "Are you telling me, that my 5 year-old son held off a jounin level ninja for more than 10 minutes?" At Hiashi's calm nod, he exploded. "That's impossible! Naruto's not even entered the Academy yet! His kunai can barely hit the target, let alone the bulls-eye!" At his outburst, Kakashi, who had been leaning against the wall, spoke out coldly. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, when was the last time you saw your son training?" That caused Minato to stop as he tried to remember. "Err, at least two years ago, I think." He muttered, ashamed. "Then it seems like you are horrible outdated when it comes to Naruto's skill level, Hokage-sama." Kakashi stated bluntly as he glared at his sensei. "Naruto has been training madly these past two years, making use of the training scrolls in your library. He is proficient in all the Academy jutsu as well as most C and D class jutsu. He has also mastered a few B class jutsus, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, most notably."

Even Hiashi's eyes widened at that report. "That is impressive. Even the hailed Uchiha genius was not so advanced at his age." Minato himself was gaping. "Wait, he mastered all the Academy jutsu? Including the bunshin? But with the size of his chakra stores, he would need at least chuunin level chakra control before he could master the bunshin!" Kakashi nodded, "Naruto has already mastered all three chakra control exercises." Hiashi was staring in shock and Minato was opening and closing his mouth, unable to say anything. "If there's nothing else, Hokage-sama, I'll take my leave now." With that, Kakashi leapt out of the window and went in search of the little blond prodigy.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this fic is purely non-profitable.

**Chapter 3**

Naruto sighed as he closed the last folder and slot it into its appropriate spot. After the whole Hyuuga kidnapping incident, he had been asked to take the genin test. He had passed easily and was appointed genin. However, as there were no other genins graduating at that point of time, Naruto was not assigned a squad or a jounin-sensei. Instead he tagged along other teams in their missions. As a result, he mostly took part in C-rank missions as D-rank missions were so easy they really did not need an extra pair of hands. Besides, the whole point of D-rank missions was to improve teamwork and Naruto's presence could hamper that. When he turned 6, he took part in the chuunin exam held in kirigakure, joining a squad which had one member who had to sit out of the exam due to injuries. Naruto passed the chuunin exams with flying colours, becoming the youngest chuunin, sharing the title with Uchiha Itachi, the genius prodigy child. Ever since he officially became a ninja, his father had took him aside and explained his additional duties due to him being the son of the Hokage and the heir of the Namikaze clan. When he was of age, he would be eligible to a seat on the Hokage's council as well as one on the shinobi council. As Naruto believed in being prepared for everything, he had taken to volunteering at the Hokage's Tower to learn more about the work done there. At first, the desk ninja had been wary of the then 6 year-old child, but they soon warmed up to him. He was also given harder and harder tasks, recently graduating from filling up order forms to ranking missions. This was an especially important job as a wrongly ranked mission could result in the death of a ninja squad. However, most of the time, Naruto could be found updating the ninja files. It was a tedious task, recording the mission status of every ninja and updating their files every day. No sensitive information could be found in the file, of course, merely a picture and a very brief description of the ninja's character and abilities. However, because of this, Naruto could now name several ninjas on sight.

It was not uncommon for Naruto to be the last person in the office. By now, the janitor simply passed him the keys and told him to lock up when he left. Tonight was no different. As Naruto stretched and got ready to leave the Tower, he stopped as he saw light coming from an out-of-the-way corridor. It led to the older conference rooms that were rarely in use anymore. Interest piqued, Naruto stealthily crept closer. "Itachi-kun, I'm sure you understand the need for your clan's assassination."

Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized the voice to belong to Danzo, one of the Hokage's advisors. This bore looking into. Naruto backed away from the room and silently summoned one of his nin-dogs. Kakashi had allowed him to sign the contract as a reward for making chuuin. He quickly informed Pakkun to get Kakashi to the Hokage Tower immediately, and to get his father as well, if possible. Then he sneaked back towards the room, his hands reaching into his pockets to turn on the tape recorder hidden there. When he was young, he had taken to carrying notebooks around to record down anything he learnt. When he turned 4, Kakashi had given him the tape recorder as a birthday present and told him to use it in place of the notebooks. Naruto had carried it with him ever since.

"Uchiha Itachi, you are hereby ordered to assassinate every Uchiha involved in the conspiracy against the Hokage. That is to say, the entire Uchiha clan apart from yourself and your brother."

Hearing this, Naruto swiftly entered the room. "I'm afraid you do not have to power to give such an order, Danzo-sama." He spoke, watching the two ninjas immediately slide into attacking stances.

"What are you doing here brat? This is a council meeting, you are not allowed to intrude." Danzo snarled, immediately recognizing the Hokage's son and demon vessel.

"On the contrary, Danzo-sama, according to clause 7 of the Hokage's verdict no.9, a council meeting is only considered such if it is presided over by the Hokage and it is carried out in the sealed council meeting room which ensures that no one can spy on the meeting." Naruto shot back smoothly, glad that he had read up on politics after finding out about his future responsibilities. As Danzo glared harshly at him, about ready to blow a fuse, Naruto continued.

"Back to my previous point, Danzo-sama, you do not have the power to order the assassination of the Uchiha clan."

At this, Danzo smirked. "That's what you think brat. Your foolish father might be aware that my ROOT program is still up and running, but even he does not know the number of agents I have under my command. I have been biding my time and I now have more than a hundred agents completely loyal to me. So you see, I do, in fact, have the power to order the assassination of the Uchiha clan."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, "If that is so, then why do you require the services of Uchiha Itachi?" Danzo's eyes widened as he realized that Itachi was still in the room. The Uchiha prodigy was still under the delusion that the Hokage had ordered the Uchiha clan assassination. Furious at his slip, he launched two kunai at the insufferable demon brat.

There was a loud clang of metal on metal as Itachi swiftly positioned himself in front of Naruto and deflected the kunai. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to harm Namikaze-san, Danzo-sama." He spoke, coolly. "Are you going against me, Uchiha? I'll have you killed along with the rest of your worthless clan! I was originally going to pin the blame of the massacre on you but now I think I'll blame the Kyuubi-brat instead. Then I'll present the demon's dead body and gain the glory for killing the one responsible for the Uchiha massacre. After that, I'll graciously take in the mentally scarred Uchiha Sasuke and mould him into the perfect weapon." Danzo cackled as he summoned 10 ROOT ANBU and sent them to attack the two young prodigies.

Itachi wasted no time in launching his attacks, immediately engaging 3 ROOT agents in combat. However, as 5 more agents flocked to him, he was quickly being overwhelmed. Naruto, himself, had his hands full with the 2 ROOT ANBU that attacked him. Just when it seemed like Danzo would succeed in killing the two ninja, 3 Konoha ANBU teams suddenly appeared and apprehended the ROOT agents. Kakashi swiftly caught and incapacitated Danzo. The Yondaime himself was in the room, blue eyes blazing. "What is going on here, Danzo?" He demanded. Naruto immediately spoke up, "You need to get to the Uchiha mansion! He ordered his agents to massacre the whole clan!" The Fourth's eyes widened at that as he quickly ordered all the ANBU to make their way to the Uchiha district immediately. "Kakashi, Itachi, you two watch over the captives." With that, the Yondaime used Hiraishin and flashed away.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this fic is purely non-profitable.

**Chapter 4**

The Uchiha district was quite a sight in Konoha. Had Konoha been anything but a Hidden Village, the Uchiha district would have surely been labeled one of the most beautiful tourist attractions. However, Konoha was a Hidden Village and thus tourists weren't allowed in. Any visitors were kept under scrutiny and most definitely not allowed near the Uchiha district. This was because the Uchiha were more than a ninja clan, they also served as the police force of Konoha. As such, several important documents could be found in the Uchiha mansion, which doubled as the headquarters of the Uchiha police. Only members of the head family were allowed to stay in the huge 3 story building, however. All other Uchihas were allocated smaller houses and cottages that were scattered around the Uchiha district.

In the day, the Uchiha mansion would be crawling with ninjas, bursting with energy as ninjas bearing the custom red and white fan – the Uchiha symbol – would amble in and out of headquarters. Of course, if you asked any one of these Uchiha, they would scowl and tell you that Uchiha's do not _amble_. It seems denial ran in the family. Anyway, back to the present. Currently, the Uchiha district was alight with sound as ninjas shouted and yelled as they fought. Normally, this would not be out of place, as any Konoha ninja would tell you that the Uchiha held training sessions for all the ninjas of the clan. As such, it was not uncommon for sounds of battle to emanate from the Uchiha district. In fact, this was one of the reasons why the Uchiha district was situated far away from other houses. The Uchiha insisted that they were conducting top secret clan training and they did not want anyone not of the Uchiha clan to overhear their clan techniques. The Shodaime had acquiesced to their request and had the Uchiha district isolated from the rest of the village. Ironically, it was this request that had resulted in the near massacre of the Uchiha clan this night.

As mentioned before, it was not unusual for the Uchiha district to be alight with the sounds of combat, but what was different tonight was that the fan-bearing ninjas were not the only ninjas at the scene. This was rare as non-Uchihas were rarely allowed into the Uchiha district. Yet, at the moment, there were easily a hundred non-Uchihas infesting the area. Garbed in the standard black ANBU uniform with an additional white crest over their left breast which signified their status as ROOT ANBU, Danzo's agents swarmed the grounds and swiftly took out as many Uchihas as they could. Taken by surprise, the well-known Konoha policemen were easy pickings for the highly trained ROOT ANBU. It seemed as though the Uchiha line would become extinct today before a bright yellow flash appeared and turned the tides.

With his signature Hiraishin no Jutsu, Minato reached the Uchiha district in under a minute. He took a few milliseconds to survey the scene before he threw a unique three pronged kunai into the air and flashed a series of seals. "Kunai Bunshin no Jutsu!" He yelled as the one kunai multiplied to a thousand and they rained down upon the Uchiha district. None of the kunai hit any of the fighting ninja, of course, as ninja were highly capable fighters and were not likely to fall prey to random kunai falling from the sky. However, hitting the ninja with his kunai was not the Yondaime's intention. Forming a single seal, the Yondaime disappeared in a flash and the entire Uchiha district lit up with bright yellow flashes. Every time the flash appeared, a ROOT ninja dropped to the ground, either unconscious or dead. Single-handedly, the Fourth Hokage had turned the tide of the battle, saving the underdogs and leading them to victory.

By the time the ANBU arrived, there were only a handful of ROOT agents left to incapacitate. This was done swiftly and efficiently as the Konoha ANBU quickly rounded up the traitors and delivered them to the Intelligence division, where a grumpy Morino Ibiki who had just been shaken from his sleep awaited them. The ROOT ANBU would be spilling their guts in no time.

All in all, the night ended rather anti-climatically for young Naruto and Itachi, who had missed most of the action as they awaited the Hokage in the conference room. Kakashi had taken out his little orange book and seemed to be engrossed in his literature. Of course, if any of the prisoners so much as twitched, Kakashi would have been alert and ready to take them down. He was not a world-renown S-class nin for nothing, afterall.

A few hours later found Naruto, Itachi, Kakashi, Minato as well as Uchiha Fugaku – the head of the Uchiha clan, in the Hokage's office. Naruto was just about to finish his report.

"– then Itachi-san appeared in front of me and deflected the kunai. Danzo-sama summoned 10 of his agents and ordered them to attack us. You and Kaka-nii appeared a few minutes later. The entire conversation from when I entered the room is recorded in this device." Naruto reported as he stepped forward to pass his father the recorder before bowing and stepping back in line with the other ninjas present.

Minato turned the recorder over in his hands before placing it on his table to review later. He nodded at his son before turning to Itachi. "Report, Uchiha Itachi." He commanded and the Uchiha prodigy stepped forward.

"Danzo-sama has been sending me on several missions ever since I was appointed as ANBU captain. He told me that he was working under your orders and that every ANBU captain went through a similar phase to prove their loyalty and worth. I did not question his orders until he ordered me to spy on my clan last week. I started to get suspicious but there was no one I could ask. Normally, I would approach my superior, but in this case that was either Danzo-sama or you, Hokage-sama. It did not occur to me that you would be unaware of Danzo-sama's actions, Hokage-sama, and so I continued to follow his orders until he instructed me to slaughter everyone in the Uchiha clan except Sasuke last night on the grounds that my clan has been plotting to overthrow the Hokage." Itachi gave his report in a smooth and low tone. Not a single emotion had entered his voice throughout his speech and there were no inflections in his monotone. To anyone else, Itachi would have seemed to be calm, poised and cool, but Naruto narrowed his eyes as he spotted the slight tremor that ran through the teen's shoulders.

Minato nodded and signaled for Itachi to step back in line. The Uchiha heir did so before bowing low and speaking, "I know now that I should have acted earlier and approached you to confirm Danzo-sama's orders, Hokage-sama. I apologise for my grievous oversight. My foolishness and tendency to follow orders without question have caused me to basically act as an accomplice. My crimes equal to that of a traitor. As such, I will accept any punishment you deem necessary, Hokage-sama." At Itachi's words, Fugaku immediately moved to protest before Minato waved him away.

"No punishment is necessary, Itachi-kun. It is not a crime to follow the orders of your superior. Though I hope you have learned from this and will not follow orders so blindly in the future." Minato said, staring calmly at the black haired teen.

Itachi nodded, "Hai Hokage-sama. I understand." With that, he fell silent again. Naruto silently studied the Uchiha genius as the meeting continued. The Kyuubi jinchurikii was shaken by the night's events and it had not even been his clan that was threatened. He was amazed that the older boy was able to keep his composure so well. Even the older and more experienced Uchiha clan head was unnaturally pale and his eyes were a few millimeters wider than usual. After all, the poor man still hadn't gotten over the fact that his entire clan was nearly wiped out in one night.

Minato kept them for awhile more, probing them for information, before finally releasing them just as dawn arrived and the first few rays of sunlight appeared over the horizon. A good twenty or so Uchihas had been killed and Fugaku had to rush home after the meeting to organize the chaos the Uchiha clan had descended to after the would-be messenger. Itachi stayed back long enough to sincerely thank the blue-eyed boy who as good as saved his clan before hurrying after his father.

Naruto trailed after Kakashi as the both of them walked towards the Namikaze estate. Kakashi was insistent on escorting Naruto home and making sure that he got his rest after the late-night excitement. "Maa Naruto, first the Hyuuga clan and now the Uchiha clan. Which clan are you going to have indebted to you next?" Kakashi chuckle as he ruffled Naruto's hair good-naturedly. Then his light-hearted teasing tone shifted to a more serious, albeit softer one. "Well done, Naruto. I'm proud of you." His words caused Naruto to stare at him, before a small smile bloomed on his face. These were the words that Naruto had always wanted his father to say. Even though it was not the same, having Kakashi say he was proud of him caused a warm and tingly feeling to erupt inside of Naruto. "Arigatou, Kaka-nii." He said softly, as the two Konoha ninjas continued on their way home.


End file.
